Heavy Duty Trucking, July 2016

HDT JULY 2016 26 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM TRUCKINGS WORLDWIDE BUSINESS REPORT Hotlineglobal Daimler Trucks says its making pedestrian detection in trucks available for the first time with new Sideboard Assist and Active Brake Assist 4 in Mercedes Benz trucks As part of a preview ahead of this falls IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in Hannover Germany company officials noted that to date safety systems in trucks have served first and foremost to avoid serious accidents on highways But the new Sideguard Assist and Active Brake Assist 4 in Mercedes Benz trucks transfer high tech safety technology into urban traffic and offer protection for pedestrians and cyclists While media coverage generally focuses on serious accidents on motorways and highways in reality the situation is often quite different In Germany for example around 30 of all traffic deaths occur in built up areas With regard to fatal traffic accidents involving goods transport vehicles this figure is even in the region of 50 Critical situations here are vehicles turning off or onto roads and traffic at junctions Active Brake Assist 4 is the first emergency braking system for trucks that can markedly reduce the risk of accidents with pedestrians in towns and cities Daimler says Whereas Active Brake Assist 3 already initiates braking fully automatically in response to stationary AROUND THE WORLD Passenger cyclist avoidance unveiled for Mercedes Benz trucks Italian truck maker Iveco launched the new Stralis NP for Natural Power saying the heavy duty tractor is the most sustainable international transport truck ever The company says the truck can run on compressed or liquid natural gas and was specifically designed for long haul operations Bendixs German parent company Knorr Bremse made an acquisition to position it for future autonomous vehicle technology Its buying tedrive Steering Systems also a German based company whose intelligent Hydraulic Steering Assist iHSA technology was developed with a view to meeting the demands of autonomous driving in commercial vehicles Integrating it with Knorr Brenses new generation of Global Scalable Brake Control products will allow Knorr Bremse to offer extended automated driving functionalities such as active lane keeping platooning or autonomous yard maneuvering Demand for Chinas heavy and medium trucks and tractors was mixed in the first quarter reports ACT Research Total heavy duty sales rose more than 8 year over year a 41 increase from the previous quarter Medium duty truck sales rose 11 year over year but contracted more than 22 from the final quarter of 2015 ACT expects Chinese truck production to be up about 1 in 2016 predicting that domestic demand for China commercial vehicles will remain subdued for the foreseeable future until changes in both the countrys economy and the evolution of its transportation industry have stabilized A flood of low cost low quality tires from China isnt a problem only in the U S The European Retread Association Bipaver says after five years of Chinese truck tires being dumped in Europe market conditions have worsened quickly over the last year mainly due to an increase of anti dumping regulations in neighboring continents The group is pushing the European Union to address the problem Heavy goods trailer demand in Western Europe is off to a strong start in 2016 according to CLEAR International but it expects a cyclical slowdown in 2018 2019 Its forecasting the trailer market to be up more than 9 this year The big seven economies of Western Europe all are forecast to have higher levels of GDP and business investment in the 2016 17 period For the second year in a row Dana Holding Corp was named the Annual Best Battery Solution Provider by the China Decision Makers Consultancy CDMC The honor is in recognition of Danas research and contributions to thermal management technologies for hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles Its Long brand of thermal management technologies help optimize the efficient operation of electrical systems extend battery life and allow faster battery charging and moving obstacles such as slow moving vehicles in front or at the end of a tailback the new ABA 4 now also detects pedestrians in urban traffic who are walking between parked cars onto the road Daimler says Sideguard Assist is the first assistance system available that draws the truck drivers attention to pedestrians and cyclists in cornering situations The German Insurance Association expects that with a Sideguard Assist about half of all accidents between trucks and pedestrians and cyclists can be avoided in the future Highway accidents may get more press Daimler says but many traffic deaths occur in populated areas PHOTO DAIMLER TRUCKS

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